retailers are trying to jump-start holidays to get consumers kind of in the groove early to start buying, teeing them up because they know that consumers are going to be getting hit with higher prices. so they want to get retailers in the mood to shell out their money earlier. victor? three weeks ahead of halloween and folks are already buying christmas trees. alison, thank you. thank you for staying with me. i m victor blackwell. jsh joe biden and world leaders are condemning russian missile strikes that targeted civilians in ukraine. [ explosions ] wow. overnight, russia unleashed a barrage of missiles in kyiv. multiple other cities too across the country, knocking out critical infrastructure. at least 11 people are dead, dozens more injured. today, putin is boasting about the attack and vows there will be more. he says this blitz is retaliation for the weekend attack on a key bridge that links annexed crimea to russia. joe biden says russia s attacks demonstrate the
what she said about a white colleague s black son and why her partial resignation may not by enough to quiet her critics. plus, one of the most inconvenient and important cancer screenings, what a new study says about how well colonoscopies works. welcome to the lead. i m in for jake tapper. russia as bombarded ukraine can more than 80 missiles in eight regions. monday s was the most intense stretch of bombing. russia is clearly targeting civilian infrastructure, walkways, water and power stations, even a playground hit. so far 11 people have died, dozens more injured. putin says it is revenge for this, a saturday morning attack on the bridge that connects russia to crimea. the explosion was a strategic attack, its dependence on rail. and for putin, it s personal. he made it a point to drive across this bridge when it opened back in 2018. the attack came just a day after his 7 0th birthday. frederik pleitgen has this report. reporter: it was in the middle of monday mor